Innocence
by Iruka Umino's Biggest Fan
Summary: Oneshot. Before the Matt Engarde case. Adrian Andrews ponders on the true meaning of love and whether or not she would find love one day. Minor JFA Case 4 spoilers.


Innocence

By Iruka Umino's Biggest Fan

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters used in this fanfic. Well, enjoy! I know it's short. Sorry.**

**Summary: This is a story about Adrian Andrews getting close to Juan Corrida for Celeste's suicide note. Contains minor spoilers for JFA Case 4.**

Adrian Andrews pushed her silver-framed glasses onto her nose, heaved a sigh, and pressed her cheek against the window that she was sitting next to in her bedroom. She was sitting in a black leather chair by her window that she did all of her thinking in. Thoughts raced through her mind, all bits and pieces of one larger thought that was eating away at her mind, feeding off her thoughts little by little, until there was nothing left. C_eleste...you were so stupid. _If it wasn't for her mentor, Celeste Inpax, she wouldn't have to do this to Juan.

"Stop it, Adrian, you're just in this relationship for the note. Nothing else." She told herself, misery lacing her tone.

_But...maybe...just perhaps...it wasn't _just _the note anymore. _Adrian chased the thought away by shaking her head violently, her long, blonde hair swaying back and forth. The only reason that she was stealing the heart of Juan Corrida was for the note. Celeste's note. That suicide note had to exist, it had to be under the constant watch of Juan Corrida. Adrian had sworn that she would find that note, she would take it from Juan, and she would burn it. Erase it from existance.

The sound of a door creaking open intruded on her thoughts and she removed her cheek from the window, turning to the door to see who had dared enter her room when she had specifically asked to be left alone by Matt Engarde and that annoying salesman. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes met the wide, brown eyes of Juan Corrida. His wavy, brown hair shaded his eyes and his usual bright smile was spreading across his face.

"Oh, Juan. Come on in." Adrian said with a false smile on her face.

Juan nodded and walked inside her room, sitting down beside her in a chair of his own. The smile he had on his face seemed to suggest that he loved being in her house more than anything in the world, and that was the one thing that made Adrian feel so guilty. She wasn't supposed to _really _be in love with Juan, was she? He was just a pawn in her plan to get her hands on Celeste's note.

"Speak up, Adrian." Juan urged.

Adrian sighed and looked Juan in the eyes, as much as it pained her to see that look of innocence on his face, and tried to pull a false smile. Juan frowned as he caught the expression of misery reflected in her cold eyes. He rolled his eyes and pressed his fingers to Adrian's cheeks, pulling her lips up into something close to a smile. When his fingers left her cheeks, a real smile tugged at her lips. Juan's attempt at a smile disappeared and her real smile pathetically replaced it.

"What's wrong, Adrian?" He asked.

Adrian shrugged halfheartedly and began to turn back to the window, until Juan placed a hand on her chin and turned her head to face him. His eyes pleaded for an answer, but, since this was the first time her heart and her brain had agreed on anything, she decided to keep quiet.

"Nothing, Juan." She said, slightly irritated.

Juan shot her a look that seemed to say, "Yeah, right!" and she reached for her tiny, pink book. She flipped the pages absently until Juan closed it. She looked up at him and he handed her a snippet out of some sort of magazine. She got a good look at the picture and her temper rose to boiling point. She began to blush deep crimson as the image became burned into her mind. The picture depicted Adrian, next to Juan with his arm draped around her shoulder. They had been taking a walk through the park that day, but Adrian hadn't the slightest idea that someone had managed to snap a picture.

"Who did this? Who took that picture?" Adrian snapped, standing up with fury and throwing the article onto the ground without a second glance at it.

Juan shrugged and stood up, tripping over its leg and landing headfirst on the ground. Adrian helped him up and they walked outside, where they left the house and decided to go for another walk. Adrian's feeling of guilt in the pit of her stomach continued to grow as she saw the look of happiness on Juan's face. He had no idea that she was just using him to get to the note. Then again, she herself had no idea of how much she was in love with him.

Love, to Adrian, was only a troublesome emotion that only caused pain and heartbreak. It had no real definition, no real reason, and that is why she despised it so. She absolutely detested it, even more than she detested herself and how useless she was to everyone around her. She had to convice herself numerous times that she wasn't in love with Juan Corrida, it was just her mind playing tricks on her, she was certain of that. Adrian would never truly love anyone, and no one would ever truly love her. Love...there was no such thing as love, and never would be! At least...not for her.

"Love..." She whispered to herself when she returned from her walk that evening.

She began to flip through her pink book again and for a brief moment, she paused to chase away the remaining thought in her mind about Juan Corrida. As hard as she tried, it remained there, the only thought that she hadn't bothered to chase off.

"Yes, I do. I really do love him."

_Stop it._

"But...who would've thought...Juan Corrida was the one?"

_Stop it. You know that there's no such thing as love!_

"Oh, please, Adrian. There's no such thing. No such thing as love." She repeated, although, even now, when she was so sure that she wasn't in love with Juan Corrida, she wasn't so sure that there was no such thing as love.

Maybe, just maybe, love existed after all. And maybe love would find her one of these days.


End file.
